


Last Call

by malafight



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Other, abuse tw, alcohol use, suicidal ideation tw, suicide TW, this is not really a happy fic, vaguely angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-08-29 06:32:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8478919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malafight/pseuds/malafight
Summary: Human AU. Jasper is in a stable, healthy relationship when her ex calls her for a ride in the middle of the night, waking up demons she thought she'd silenced a long time ago.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so... fair warning. This was started and planned before Super Watermelon Island aired, and is, for the most part, a bit of catharsis for me and a bit of my own journey through abuse recovery that I just wanted to post because maybe it might help someone else. Or, yknow, might make a good read.
> 
> There are depictions of alcohol use and suicidal ideation, as well as mentions of abuse (primarily gaslighting/emotional but some physical) and a previous suicide attempt.
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading this; please be gentle. Stay safe.

_-wouldn’t call, told you I wouldn’t care-_

The old ringtone -- when was the last time _that_ had played from her phone? -- was met with a quiet, sleepy growl as Jasper’s blonde head rose from the pillow, squinting at the blurred green numbers on the nightstand. 2:13. Two friggin’ thir- _hhhhh_.

_-think that I can take this bed getting-_

A heavy hand slaps down on the nightstand, groping around first for the phone cord, then the phone attached to it, before unplugging the cell and bringing it to her face to squint at the bright screen, vibrant against the darkness of the wee hours of the morning.

_-come over, come over, come over-_

Jasper had only a few more seconds to decide whether to answer, and the muzzy little _mnh?_ from the body curled against her was enough to urge her to at least make the _sound_ stop, swiping to answer and bringing the phone to her ear in the same motion. She doesn’t speak for the few seconds it takes to push herself carefully off the bed, giving her girlfriend a reassuring pat before she stands and leaves the room, bare feet thumping against the laminate.

The sounds she can pick up -- the low buzz of background conversation, the thumps of chairs scraping against a wooden floor, glasses clinking, the barely-audible lilting notes of a jukebox -- say _bar_ , and she has a moment of quiet mental grumbling, of _course_ it’s a bar, before she picks up the barely-audible sound of a concealed sob and her irritation evaporates immediately, replaced by gripping worry that makes her freeze in the middle of the hallway.

“ _Lapis?_ ”

For a few moments all she can hear is the pounding of her heart in her ears, then there’s a sniffle and a hiccup and a quivering voice that she hasn’t heard in- fuck, _years?_

“ _J-Jasper the bartender took my k-keys-_ ”

Jasper groans quietly and runs her hand down her face, sighing as she continues on into the living room, her heartbeat not slowing down in the slightest. But… at least it doesn’t sound like a _real_ emergency.

“I told you not to call me again.”  
  
“ _P-please, nobody else’ll answer m-my calls-_ ”

“ _Ever,_ Lapis!”

“ _I-it’s been years! C-can’t you- j-just-_ ” Lapis’s voice on the other end of the line breaks, lowering to a whisper as she creaks out a soft, “ _Please, just-_ ”

Jasper sighs again, rubbing at still-bleary eyes, before glancing out the window into the darkness.

“...you at the Hideaway?”  
  
Another hiccuping sniffle from the other end, then a moment where it’s just the background noise of the bar again.

“...did you just nod.”

“ _Hhhh, n-no, I- I’m- y-yeah, ‘m at the Hideaway._ ”

“I’ll…” She sighs again, thoughts all jumbled up and difficult to sort through. “Let me get dressed.”

“ _Th-thank you-_ ” Lapis sniffles again, repeating the slurred words once more, “ _Thank you, Jasper-_ ”

“Yeah, well. See you in twenty minutes.” Click. Jasper sighs again, dizziness starting to set in a bit as she pulls the phone away from her ear and looks down at it, frowning and resisting the overwhelming urge to fling the little thing against the wall.

Two years. She’d had peace for _two years_ , not a peep from her ex, successfully warding off the intense urges to stalk Lapis _fucking_ Lazuli online for _two years_ and then, out of the blue, it’s like she’s been ripped from the floor she’s standing on and thrown into a blender, the room around her seeming to warp and tear a bit as she feels her consciousness pulled in all different directions and her heart beating deafeningly in her ears. For a few long, agonizing moments, she feels the floor beneath her feet tilting and threatening to toss her on her ass, until a sleep-slurred voice breaks through the vibrant colors and too-loud sounds, giving her a point to grip onto and keep herself steady.

“Mnh… Jasper-?”

Amber eyes, still a bit dull and unfocused, flick towards the sound, then she’s turning to greet the tousled, sleepy figure in a too-big tee. With a quiet, almost rumbling sigh, she steps closer to tug the fabric back up, cover her drowsy girlfriend’s freckled shoulder.

“Middle of the night, Dottie. Go back to sleep.”

With a little _mnh_ , the smaller woman squints up at Jasper, her glasses left back on the bedside table.

“You moved…”

“Yeah, I’m gonna have to head out for a little while. Some idiot I know stayed to last call and needs a ride.” There’s a brief pang of guilt lancing through her chest at the- not outright _lie_ , but omission. But Peridot _knows_ about Lapis, knows- _everything_ , at this point, at least what Jasper can remember, and she’d- she’d _worry_. Or worse, ask her not to go. And even if Jasper had already promised Lapis… if her girlfriend asked her to stay, she _would_. “I’ll be back soon, love, go on back to sleep.”

At Peridot’s sleepy little frown, she rests her hand on the tousled blonde hair, ruffling it lightly before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her forehead. The smaller woman’s eyes squeeze shut at the affection and the corners of her mouth pull down a bit further, stubbornly, before she gives in and lets out a little snort of sleepy amusement. She raises up on her tiptoes and stretches her arms around Jasper’s neck, nuzzling the tall woman’s weather-beaten cheek and pressing a kiss to her lips.

After a mumbled exchange of _I love you_ s, Peridot slinks her way back to bed, and Jasper sighs, the corners of her mouth quirking up into an appreciative smile at the receding figure. Two years ago, she never would have thought she’d be this- this comfortable, this _content_. And then- fucking _Lazuli_ calling-

She shudders a bit and glances back over at the door, taking a moment to assess her current attire -- red flannel lounge pants and an undershirt -- while rubbing the inside of her left wrist, then sighs and shakes her head. It’s a smooth motion to grab the black Carhartt from the hook and slip it on, jam a baseball cap on her head to keep from having to tame her wild mane. She shoves her bare feet in battered sneakers and grabs the truck keys, and then she’s out the door, steeling herself for- she’s not even sure. She’d expected her ex to have been blown to the wind ages ago, but then here she is, still in this godforsaken town, making yet another bartender’s life hell…

The drive to the Hideaway isn’t long; it’s actually one of the closer bars to her trailer, close enough for her to have considered it a safe drive, back when she was still making terrible decisions. But of course... back then, almost _any_ drive was a safe drive, with that little demon on her shoulder. She spends the whole drive pale-knuckled and trying not to let her hands tremble against the steering wheel, breathing shaky and slow as she tries to talk herself calm, having to dig into her reserves of energy and self-control just to keep from yanking the wheel to the right just a _bit_ too quickly and finding her excuse not to finish the drive in the trees lining the side of the road.

Jasper sits in silence outside of the squat, dingy building once she reaches the Hideaway, the air around her still vibrating and pressing in, making her a bit dizzy and overwhelmed, almost like she’s drowning in the weight of years of memories and bad decisions, thoughts she’d put far behind her and hoped never to revisit. Two years had seen her through weight loss and weight gain, less light in her life and more ink on her skin, dark circles under her eyes and darker thoughts and urges creeping in from the corners of her mind. She’d changed, she tells herself. She doesn’t even look the same.

The Jasper she sees in the mirror in the morning is one who doesn’t spend every waking hour fighting to keep herself together. The demon whispering in her ear had grown quiet months ago, only occasionally rearing its ugly head in times of weakness, and even then drowned out easily enough by the voice of a girlfriend who loves her, who knows her better than she knows herself.

The Jasper sitting in the white-gravel parking lot, though? She’s not so sure any more. Suddenly, those long months of work, of recovery, seem like so much wasted time, because the mere thought of seeing Lapis again makes it hard to breathe; she can feel the weight of fear crushing her throat, flooding her mouth with the bitter taste of blood and desperation. It takes her a moment to realize that she’d bitten her tongue, and she rolls down the window to spit a flash of red onto the scattered rocks outside.

She hadn’t even considered what she’d do if Lapis tried to contact her. She hadn’t wanted to think about it. A part of her was convinced that their first meeting since their screaming breakup would have ended in violence, the same way their relationship had. But now- she can remember the way she felt, standing in the living room, broken nose streaming bright red and split knuckles still covered in drywall. She can remember the taste of copper and alcohol in her mouth and the way her heart pounded in her ears and fingertips and the bottoms of her feet. And she can remember the pain, and the anger, but it’s like she’s trying to reach it through icy water, the sounds dulled and her body and mind numb and suspended in space.

She doesn’t want to hurt Lapis. She doesn’t even want to _see_ Lapis. She doesn’t want the reminder, and on some level- on some level she doesn’t want the _temptation_ , doesn’t want her old flame to hook her in again. Because there had always been something appealing about Lapis Lazuli, slight form and pretty face hiding so much anger and strength. She could draw people in with her appeal, entrance them with her song.

Sometimes, Jasper can’t help but think that she’s the only one who ever got close enough to see the ugliness and danger hiding behind the bright light used to draw her in. That she was the only one who saw it, instead of being so caught up in the siren’s spell that she couldn’t see what so many people in her life had warned her away from.

There’s a part of her that still wants to believe that she _had_ been special, that Lapis had been just as hurt by the sudden, gut-wrenching absence of what they had together. Some days, she wishes Lapis had been hurt _more_. Others, she wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

She traces the letters on the inside of her left wrist with a sigh and pulls the keys from the ignition, pocketing them and stepping down from the cab, rocks crunching underfoot at her weight. She’d made her decision in a moment of weakness, but she’s not going to back down now. Her days of hiding from consequences at the bottom of a bottle were long past. The sigh she lets out before opening the door puffs out in a cloud of vapor, and she’s suddenly acutely aware of the temperature outside, so caught up in her thoughts and the heated rush of adrenaline that she hadn’t realized it before.

The _ting_ of the bell over the door announces her arrival, and it takes her less than a second to hone in on Lapis’s location, a slip of pale blue amidst the warm wooden colors of the bar’s interior.

Lapis Lazuli looks the same as she did two years ago. God damn it, she looks the _same_ , skin flawlessly smooth, hair fine and dark and dyed blue at the tips. There’s a single dress shoe on the floor below her bare feet, and the powder-blue sleeveless dress she’s wearing is rumpled, and somehow that only adds to the sense of- wildness, otherness, natural _beauty_ that Jasper remembers.

When Lapis turns toward the jingling of the door to greet Jasper, her lips are turned up into an almost dazed smile, the lips Jasper had kissed and bitten so many times in the past, the lips from which fell fire and vitriol as often as compliments and sweet nothings. Lapis Lazuli smiles at her, and Jasper feels the weight of the years apart settle heavily in her chest, and her breath leaves her for a moment, her heart pounding in her ears.

All of a sudden, she decides that she would have preferred the violence and anger to _this_.

“It’s freezing outside, and _that’s_ what you’re wearing?”

She had never really put much thought into what she might say the next time she saw Lapis, but all things considered, she could have done better. She bites down again on her already-painful tongue and starts crossing over to the bar with heavy steps, slipping her jacket off her shoulders as she goes.

Lapis hops down from the wooden stool and wobbles a bit, grinning as she half-falls against Jasper’s chest.

“I knew you’d come!” the slight woman laughs, and Jasper softens with a sigh, draping her coat across Lapis’s shoulders and pulling it snug once the smaller woman separates from her.

“Of course,” is what rumbles from her chest, and for a moment she’s silently berating herself, knowing exactly what she’s in for- knowing _exactly_ the tune of this siren song. But there’s a certain amount of- training, really, that can’t be scrubbed out. And if there’s one thing she’s good at, it’s coming when called. She’d never let anyone down, if she can help it- least of all _this_ particular someone…

When Lapis looks up at her, Jasper can see drying tracks of tears down the other woman’s cheek; once Lapis notices her looking, they’re quickly wiped away.

“He says I had too much to drive, but ‘ve driven worse.”

“...mnh. I know, I was there.”

Lapis clutches the coat around her, practically swimming in it due to just how _big_ Jasper is compared to her- compared to anyone, really, but especially the tiny Lapis.

“‘m not even drunk,” she mumbles. Jasper leans in a bit to assess and huffs a quiet sigh.

“Yes, you are. Come on, let’s go,” she says, her voice almost tired, resigned, though- worried, a bit. After a moment and a glance at Lapis’s bare feet, she scoops up the smaller woman in her arms, bridal-style, and starts heading to the door as Lapis lets out a dismayed, squeaking whine.

“I can _walk_ , Jasper! Fuck!”

“You’re barefoot.”

“I have shoes.”

“A shoe."

“Gesundheit.”

Jasper stops immediately and looks down at the woman in her arms, who had gone from indignation to a self-satisfied smirk at her own joke, and she can’t help but smile a bit herself- only to replace it with a huff and a frown and a grunted “ _Really?_ ” that only serves to elicit a peal of laughter as Lapis kicks her bare feet, the satiny fabric of her dress rustling with the movement.

Jasper just sighs and shoulders her way out the door, shivering a little when her bare arms are exposed to the frigid air. As her feet crunch across gravel, she’s glancing down at the woman in her arms.

“Thought you’d’ve moved by now,” she grunts, stopping in front of the passenger-side door and falling silent as she tries to work out the best way to get Lapis into her truck.

“Yeah, ‘live in Florida now,” Lapis pauses for a moment as a huge yawn overtakes her, one delicate hand moving to rub at her eyes. “‘M up here for Pearl ‘n Amy’s wedding.”

Jasper looks almost surprised for a moment, but then she’s lifting Lapis to set the smaller woman on her gangbox for a few moments as she unlocks and opens the door.

“So they finally got hitched, and I wasn’t even told. They always did like you better’n me.”

Lapis shrugs.

“Private people.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. No skin off my nose, though. C’mon.” She holds out her arms again, and Lapis pushes off the gangbox. Jasper catches her and settles her in the passenger seat; there’s an air of familiarity growing between the two woman again, years of time compressing down into nothingness in moments.

Jasper shuts the door and starts walking around the truck, mind abuzz with thoughts and worries, trying to work out the snarl of her own feelings whirling about in her head. She’s treating Lapis like nothing had changed. Like they hadn’t parted in a screaming fit, hadn’t spent years completely ignoring the fact that the other existed. Like she hadn’t fallen so low that she was afraid she’d never climb back out again. Like she wasn’t covered in scars, inside and out, from things Lapis had done.

She slides into the driver’s seat with a sigh, breath puffing out mist even inside the truck.

“So, what hotel you staying at?”

“Bonfire field.”  
  
“That’s not a hotel.”

“I just wanna go to the bonfire field, Jasper. It’s right here. For old times’ sake.”

Jasper looks at her warily as she pulls out of the gravel drive, heading towards the open field not far off. She doesn’t trust Lapis’s request, but she’s also not going to get the hotel name out her any other way.

She sighs as she heads down the road, turning the radio on to fill the silence between them. It’s some old country song, depressing as hell, and it’s only on for about thirty seconds before she turns it back off.

“How was the wedding?”

“Blue,” is the only response she gets from Lapis, whose attention is on the trees rolling past them, eyes halfway closed already but face still flushed from whatever she’d been drinking.

“Reception?”

“Also blue. ‘N small. There was maybe twenty ‘f us there.” Lapis looks over towards Jasper, then back out the window, and her voice grows small and strained. “They looked happy.”

“Well, they were getting married. I’d hope they were happy.” Lapis just shakes her head.

“No, like… _happy_. Together. Just… bein.”

Lapis falls silent, looking out the window. Jasper raises an eyebrow as her truck hops the shallow ditch into the field, crawling up the low hill within a few quick moments. They roll to a stop at the apex, where an old fire pit and some discarded chairs and logs are overgrown with weeds and tall grass.

The truck isn’t even turned off before Lapis hops out of the seat, holding onto the door for balance for a moment or two and hissing at the cold ground. Jasper flinches as the door slams closed, and she’s following Lapis out before she quite realizes it.

When she gets out, Lapis is already sitting on the tailgate, head tilted back to look at the clear night sky. Jasper remembers, briefly, the way her shoulder blades scrunched up the tattoo between them whenever she sat like that, so that the tiny pair of wings there became a muddle of lines and colors. She shakes her head and stops at the gangbox, flipping up one side and pulling out a bottle of water, then a second one, squeezing and shaking them to break up the film of ice beginning to form inside.

The truck groans faintly as she slides up on the tailgate next to Lapis and hands her a bottle.

“Drink up.”

Lapis takes the bottle almost mechanically and starts taking sips; Jasper is mostly swirling hers around and watching the shards of ice move in circles.

“R’member the first time we met?” Lapis finally says, looking at the overgrown firepit. “Right over there.”

“Mmhmm. ‘Bout the only thing I remember about that night. Drunk as hell, fucked in the bushes over there, right?” She indicates the bare bushes over near the treeline with a flick of her wrist.

Lapis is quiet for a while longer, looking at the fire pit with a sort of longing, letting out a sigh.

“I miss you. Miss the way we were,” Lapis finally sighs. “Seein’ Pearl and Amy all happy…”

“I don’t,” Jasper says, looking away. So that’s why she wanted to come to the field. “‘Mean, maybe two or three years ago I would’ve. Did. But now?” She snorts. “You nearly killed me.”

Lapis seems startled, surprised, something- her face is red, drink and cold and indignation all at once.

“I never did anything to hurt you-”

“You broke my nose three times, Lapis. Scratched my face all to hell more times’n I can count.”

“I was defending myself-”

“Right. From the evil wrist-grabbing brute who just wanted you to stop screaming about how awful she is. Face it, it was never about defending yourself.”

Jasper sighs and takes a drink from her water.

“...d’you have a cig’rette.”

Jasper sort of jumps a bit at the question, then sighs and frowns. Of course she’s changing the subject. Any time she didn’t want to accept her part in something, it was deflect, deflect, deflect. Jasper just shakes her head after a moment, too used to this to even care any more.

“Quit when I quit drinkin’ months ago.”

“Fuckin useless.” The words sound bitter and far more sober than Lapis’s previous slurring.

“Sorry my recovery inconveniences you,” Jasper adds with a huff.

“Fuck you.”

“There’s the Lapis I remember. Sobering up some?”

“It’s cold,” came the non-answer. Jasper raised an eyebrow.

“You’re the one who wanted to come out here.” Lapis looks away with an almost pouting expression before she lowers her voice.

“...yeah. I know. I was just hopin’-”

“That I would suddenly remember how good we had it and beg for you back?”

“...yeah. I miss bein’ with you.”

Jasper shrugs.

“Two years ago I would have been on my knees beggin’ forgiveness, just like every other time. I’m sorry, I fucked up, take me back, I won’t do it again, just don’t leave me.” She spits the last few words bitterly. “That’s no way to live. I’m done begging. I’ve got someone I don’t need to beg.”

“You don’t love me any more-?” Lapis asks, her voice sounding shivery and on the verge of tears.

Jasper seems to start again, the tone grabbing at her heart with icy claws, making her chest hurt and her voice catch in her throat. Then, though, there’s a flicker of red anger burning inside her, and she’s looking away, across the field.

“I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving you. Still stands to be seen if I stop hating you.” She looks down at her wrists, the words written there, two to a wrist. _Sad, Strong, Safe, Sober_. “You nearly killed me.”

“You keep saying that- I never did anything like that--!” Lapis nearly sobs.

“You made me not trust my own mind! Drove me to drink, made me change over and over again to fit your whims, just so you wouldn’t leave! I don’t even remember who I _was_ before you, Lapis!”

“That isn’t _murder_ , though!”

“Did I _say_ murder? You weren’t holding a gun to my head, but it was just as much your fault as if you were!” Jasper seems to almost grow a bit as her voice raises, but- then she’s pausing, taking a deep breath, relaxing her clenched fists and tense muscles. “I took sleeping pills a few years ago. Didn’t want to live without you. Nearly died.” She looks away, off into the treeline, where she can see the pink glow of the city’s lights in the night sky. Her hands shake as she tries to screw the cap back onto her water bottle.

Lapis is quiet for a long time before she does speak, her voice low and, for the first time Jasper can remember, almost apologetic.

“I didn’t know.”

“Not many people do,” Jasper says, her voice low. “My girlfriend, my old boss, my shrink. And now you. I’m supposed to be stronger than that. I thought I was.” She sighs and sets her water bottle aside, and then she’s leaning back and resting her weight on her hands. She looks up at the clear night sky for a few long moments, the silence hanging heavy between the both of them. “I felt so weak without you. For so long. I thought, if I could just make up, if things would just be okay again, if I was just a little better…” She sighs heavily and makes a little shrugging motion. “What if, what if, what if. It’s the past.”

“You keep talking like I’m the bad guy,” Lapis says quietly. “Like I’m the worst thing t’ ever happen t’ you.”

“You fucked me up, Lapis.”

“But I didn’t mean to!” She sounds small, almost frightened. “It’s not my fault- you’re the one who wanted to change- I never made you do anything- you wanted our relationship as much as I did- I didn’t _make_ you stay--”

“You made me believe I was nothing without you,” Jasper finally cuts her off. “You made me believe everything was my fault. You made me beg forgiveness when I’d done nothing wrong, just so you’d _love me_ again.”

Lapis lowers her head, and after a while there’s the sound of sniffling and hiccups.

“I didn’t- I was only trying to protect myself--!”

“ _Protect yourself?!_ ” Jasper _jumps_ , shoving herself off the tailgate and turning to face Lapis, breathing quick and hot, still shaking. “From _what?_ I’m not the daddy who hit you or the momma who neglected you or that slimeball boyfriend who wouldn’t take no for an answer. I _loved you_ , Lapis! All I ever wanted to do was love you, and you took that! You took that and turned it into- something dark and evil and painful. Turned _me_ into something dark, someone I never wanted to be! _And you don’t even regret it!_ ”

By the time she’s done, she’s panting, face flushed, the cold air on her arms completely forgotten in the heat of her anger. In front of her, Lapis is shaking and sniffling until she finally speaks, her own voice high and quivering with anger.

“I didn’t know better, okay! I didn’t want you to hurt me like everyone else did! And- and you did! You left! You hurt me! Stop making me the bad guy--”

“You did that yourself,” Jasper says, cutting through Lapis’s yelling with a low, husky tone, her hands clenched into shaking fists.

Lapis is quiet, glaring at Jasper, eyes wet with tears threatening to fall. Jasper stares her down, breath hissing through her nose, in and out, and she’s starting to calm down some when Lapis seems to fold in on herself with a long sigh.

“...we were pretty fucked up, weren’t we?”

For a moment, Jasper seems surprised, wary, but then she turns and settles back on the tailgate with a sigh.

“Yeah. We were pretty fucked up.”

Lapis looks up at Jasper, then down to the ground.

“...I know it don’t mean much now, but ‘m sorry.”

“You’re still drunk,” Jasper says almost fondly. This, too, seems familiar, an explosion of emotion and then a quiet little response, just trying to cleanse the bad air.

“No, ‘m good. ‘M Sorry. I know I fucked you up. I still miss you.”

Jasper sighs.

“Yeah… I miss you too.”

“Thanks f’r pickin’ me up.”

“I come when I’m called. Always have.” Jasper laughs, the sound a bit forced. “Bad habit.”

Lapis smiles a tired, teary little smile.

“You’re... not single.”

“Nope. Dating this cute little nerd. Peridot’s the best thing to happen to me.”

“...I’m glad.” Lapis sighs, shaking her head. “I keep messing everything up. All the time.”

“Yeah, I… yeah. I tried to fill that hole, too. People kept leaving. Couldn’t figure out why.” Jasper shrugs. “Turns out, I was trying to make them you. Funny thing, people. They don’t like it when you try to change who they are.”

Lapis laughs and shakes her head.

“You sound like a shrink.”

“I’d better. That’s who I got it from.”

There’s silence between them for a while, until Lapis sighs.

“When I get home, I’ll look into one of those myself. Maybe see if they can make me a better person.”

“‘S up to you. The bein’ a better person thing, I mean. I had to fix a lot of bad habits. You prolly got more to fix than me.”

Lapis leans over and rests her head on Jasper’s arm with a sigh. Jasper tenses up, but doesn’t push her away.

“‘M glad you’re doin’ so good.”

“Yeah,” Jasper breathes a sigh, mist puffing out into the cool night air, “Me, too.”


End file.
